Alston adds to impressive body of work with photo for ESPN

Jul 11, 2017

Photo by Kwaku Alston: Ezekiel Elliott on a cover of ESPN The Magazine's newest Body Issue.

What is the result of a top celebrity portrait photographer and one of the NFL’s best running backs working together? A cover of ESPN The Magazine’s 2017 Body Issue.

Portrait extraordinaire Kwaku Alston — a 1994 School of Photographic Arts and Sciences alumnus — took the photo of Dallas Cowboys star tailback Ezekiel Elliott that landed on one of the nine fronts of the popular annual edition that was released July 6 (pictured right). In a blog post, Alston wrote that Elliott was receptive to his creative concepts during the photoshoot.

Elliott, just 21 years old, emerged as a top impact player in the NFL last season, when he rushed for a league-leading 1,631 yards as a rookie.

Elliott is the latest in a long line of famous people Alston has worked with. The RIT graduate has taken powerful portraits of Barack and Michelle Obama, Nelson Mandela, Kevin Hart and Denzel Washington, among many others. His works have been published in a number of esteemed publications.